Rwy'n hoffi bod ar lan y môr

... Google Translate for "I do like to be beside the seaside". This Saturday saw an eagerly awaited pre season game for Prescot Cables away to Rhyl.

James McCulloch

Rhyl has been a popular resort for those in the Liverpool area, although, like many seaside towns, it has seen better days. With demand for a day out making it viable, there was a coach, which gives newer players chance to get to know some of the supporters. For the Train Crew, there was also a good turnout. There is an assumption about the town's clientèle, I got a funny look from the chap in the combined shop and ticket office at Moorfields station when I bought a copy of the Guardian and a day return to Rhyl.

With Richie, our leader in beer and pub choices, arriving on a later train, and therefore unable to keep us on the right path, we found the first pub out of the station, a cheap and cheerful establishment with friendly service, but not a product range that would trouble the editors of the Good Beer Guide.

Rhyl will play this season in the Welsh Premier League, so this was an unusual away game for us, we would more usually travel to a side in the Huws Gray Cymru Alliance, which Rhyl won last season. Rhyl hosted Champions League football as recently as 2009, losing to FK Partizan of Belgrade, which explained the UEFA flag.

I was less sure about the flag the pre-1282 kingdom of Gwynedd, which is used by the National Assembly of Wales, and is the basis of the personal standard of the Prince of Wales (which has a coronet in the middle). I am not sure if this is also an unofficial flag of north Wales.

The ground has a capacity of 3000 with 1720 seats. I have no difficulty with the figure for seats, but I am not sure where that leaves for 1280 people to stand: most of the space was either in front of seats or in what seemed to be passageways. There was also a small standing area outside the bar, to which the Train Crew naturally gravitated.

This appeared to be the only area outside where drinking was permitted, although even this will cease in the regular season, as the Welsh Premier League is covered by the legislation prohibiting drinking in sight of the pitch.

The conditions were excellent for photography, with the pitch perimeter fence being the right height to support my arms and camera. The sun was slightly hazy, allowing good shutter speeds without casting deep shadows, and the stands were quite low, so there were few shadows on the pitch. It was also a well fought game, with plenty of the competition for the ball that we need for good photos.

In many ways, North Wales has more links with North West England than with South Wales, and there is regular movement of players between the countries. One such is Chris Rimmer, who played the first half of last season for us. When he joined us from St Helens Town, he had a tendency to lose concentration and drift out of position, but playing alongside Ged Murphy helped to address that, and he looks like he will be a good addition to the Welsh Premier next year.

Chris Rimmer chases Isaac Kusoloka, but cannot prevent him shooting for goal

At half time, I was talking to one of our party attending his first Cables game, who had thought about bringing his camera (a Canon apparently, but you cannot have everything). He enjoyed his day, so I encouraged him to take some pictures when he comes again. In the meantime, he coped with my vibrating vibration reduction unit, and got me a picture of our first half goalkeeper in the half time warm up.

Lee Novak. Photo by Sam Auty, crop by me.

The second half saw many substitutions by both managers. I am not sure who is taking the corner here, watched by the rather lugubrious linesman. Note that the match officials have radio communication.

After the game, pub choices seemed to be dictated by the simple expedient of going in the next one we came to, not my usual method, but as good as any in something of a real ale desert, and it made for an enjoyable evening.

The rest of the pictures can be seen here.

The green(ish) grass of home

This Tuesday saw Prescot Cables play their first home game of the pre season programme, against Droylsden. Our visitors' badge, like our own, is adapted from the arms of their town, with a change of colour.

The pitch looked looked well covered with grass, following the improvements achieved with funds raised by the Supporters on the Pitch scheme, with new growth in places that were looking bare at the end of last season. Unfortunately, it has not rained for 3 weeks, which has been very good for my friend from Chile on a tour to England and Ireland with his daughter, but as they have headed home, there is no reason not to have some showers to get the grass growing again.

I am not just concerned about the health of the greensward, it is playing havoc with my exposures.

James McCulloch

With a background that under normal conditions would be a more verdant hue, the players' kits seem more vivid than you might expect, although it was cloudy, which may have contributed to that. I should probably adjust the white balance, rather than rely on the camera's auto setting, but I am a bit lazy about this: firstly, I could spend all game adjusting it rather than capturing the action, and secondly, I tend to forget to change it back, so it would probably affect the next set of pictures.

Although we have done well retaining the bulk of last season's squad, there are always new faces at this time of year. Some go as quickly as they came, but some make a claim for a place at the start of the season.

Rob Doran watches his shot head towards goal

There are those who would wish to move non League football to a summer season. I tend towards not making a change, but one advantage would be summer evening games. The first half was played in natural light, and the Gasworks Side is more hospitable in July than on a wet Tuesday night in November, a pleasant breeze rather than a howling gale.

The floodlights were turned on for the second half, serving to augment rather than replace the declining natural light as in this shot of Isaac Kusaloka.

I think I now have the correct spelling of Isaac's name - it is an advantage of social media, once we have seen the player's accounts he has created himself, we can assume the spelling is correct. A similar exercise for Antony Shinks tells me I have been giving him an extra "h" for the last half season, and indeed for posterity in the 2009-10 season montage.

The close season is a time for maintenance, and the pitch perimeter fence at the Safari Park End has had a coat of paint. The new colours could help us with the light at night games, with white along most of the length ...

Dave Dempsey

... and yellow behind the goal.

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.

Heswall v Heswall

Prescot Cables' pre season programme continued at the weekend with a visit to Heswall FC of the West Cheshire League. The only Good Beer Guide pub is in the village, some distance from the ground, and further from the station, so our small group took our pre match refreshment near the ground. Both pubs were rather food oriented, and I would have preferred to take the Great Grey Owl, the Butcombe Brewery's summer seasonal brew, from the Devon Doorway and drink it in the beer garden of the Glegg Arms, but I suspect at least one establishment would have raised an objection.

The Train Crew arrive at the ground - photo by a random person outside the ground

One notable absence was Liam Hollett, who has moved to Cammell Laird. Liam has served the club well in the 6 or 7 years since he came through from the youth team, always giving his all on the pitch, and setting a good example off it. He has almost always been present at games, supporting the team, even when he has known he will not be playing, and has always had time to speak to the supporters and put the players' point of view on the forum. There had been some confusion the previous week whether he was still with us, as word had been put out (not by Liam) that he had signed for Cammell Laird, when he had not at that point put pen to paper. This blog wishes him well for the future.

Liam Hollett in action against West Didsbury & Chorlton last week

Heswall have a compact ground, well shielded on all sides, in an area where golf is probably the dominant sport: indeed, the Open was being shown on the television in the clubhouse. They could probably make the improvements needed for North West Counties football without physical difficulty, although I suspect they may face objections to planning permission for floodlights.

The trees provided good cover at the end Prescot were attacking. The start of the game had echoes of the 1974 World Cup Final, as the corner flags came out with the players.

Antony Shinks places the corner flag

Prescot were playing in Heswall's blue kit, which seemed strange. We had brought some kit, even if Norman and Paul had been delayed getting to the ground, they had arrived by 2.30. The substitutes' black shorts suggested we had brought the amber and black, so if Heswall had already put on their yellow kit, it was easier for them to lend us their blue.

Like most grass at the moment, the playing surface looked as though it would welcome the rain forecast for later in the week: a few showers should have it quickly looking green again.

Scott Thomas

For the second half, I could have squeezed behind the goal, but this is not part of the official spectator accommodation, and I would have been standing in the hedge, which would have been one way to keep in the shade.

Jordan Smith (I think) competes in front of the hedge

Instead I took up a position near the dugout under more trees, which partly overshadowed the pitch, and caused a spot of bother with the lighting when the sun came out. It had been mainly cloudy earlier, so it was cooler than the previous week, although Jon Bathurst confirmed when he came off that the humidity more than made up for it. That was one of those planned substitutions made slightly amusing by the player scoring immediately beforehand, so it looks as though being brought off is the reward for scoring. I remember for one such, one of my fellow supporters muttered, "Now, don't score any of those goals again".

Jon Bathurst

Although the first half ended goalless, and Heswall scored the first goal in the second, the training and experience of the higher placed team started to tell about 20 minutes from the end with Prescot running out 4-1 winners.

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.

Finally, this blog is not immune to the current enthusiasm for new babies, so I would like to extend congratulations to my friend John from the Southwark News, whose wife has been safely delivered of their second son. I believe they are entitled to a commemorative coin, as they just made it on the same day as the Royal baby.

First day back

The first match of the pre season programme can sometimes seem like the first day back at school. Of course, at school, there was less mystery about who would be back. Non contract players' registrations terminate at the end of the season, so they are under no obligation to return. The manager will be keen to keep his cards close to his chest before the first game, as he will not want to attract other clubs to players who have not yet signed a registration form.

It was a desire to see who had returned, and the excellent pubs in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, that took a small but select group from the Cables Train Crew to Prescot's first pre season game at West Didsbury & Chorlton. Despite being the first to arrive in Manchester, I was the last to make it to Chorlton, due to a misunderstanding over where we would catch the tram replacement bus. I made it in time to enjoy a pint of Ginger Marble in the Beer House.

The Train Crew arrive at the ground. Photo by Chorlton's gate steward.

A few years ago, West Didsbury planned to merge with East Chorlton. This did not happen, as East Chorlton folded, selling their ground, on a large parcel of land, to West Didsbury, who added Chorlton to their name in recognition. The ground is fairly basic, but they are taking methodical steps to upgrade - land cleared for covered standing, planning permission for junior pitches, and the clubhouse built with room for expansion. The clubhouse had an impressive display of their history, which made you feel you are in a football club, something often lacking in modern grounds.

We were pleasantly surprised how many players had elected to remain. The starting XI was substantially last year's team, with a start for Connor McCarthy, after a number of substitute appearances last season, and two promising new players, Phil Williams, who completed 90 minutes in the heat, and Isaac Kosoluka, who scored the second goal of the day.

Phil Williams, watched by Warren Jones

Isaac Kosoluka

I find the weather in Manchester to be characterised by humidity and a lack of breeze, so on a hot day it was going to be a test for everyone. As there was no shade at the end we were attacking, I took up position by our dugout, where the covered terracing is to go. Not that I am sure it would have helped, prefabricated terracing is often delivered painted black. This was a slightly unusual position for me, and I got more pictures of central defence and midfield, but only one usable picture of Enzo Benn at left back.

Enzo Benn

Despite an unobstructed view of Ged Murphy, I missed his goal, due to checking the team sheet at the time!

Ged Murphy

For the second half, a number of more experienced players went off. For me, conditions improved, as we were attacking the end with the shade. The disadvantage was that a team with a good finish to last season was effectively replaced by one playing together for the first time, so West Didsbury had a lot more of the play.

Second half goalkeeper, Connor Backhouse

Prescot maintained the habit we formed last season of playing to the end, and were rewarded with a 90th minute goal from a Dave Dempsey free kick on the edge of the area. Phil the Pharmacologist got it on philm, so you can judge for yourself whether it went in directly from the free kick, or if Connor McCarthy made the decisive finish (you might need to be on Facebook to view it).

Dave Dempsey

Connor McCarthy

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.

At this time of year, there will be those who are not back with us, having passed away in the close season. One such this year was stalwart Dulwich Hamlet supporter Pat Mitchell, who ran the Supporters' Club for many years with her late husband Ron. Pat had been too frail to attend matches for some years, but she always enthusiastically telephoned Bill Azzi for a report at the final whistle. When I started watching Dulwich, she was selling programmes, helping Ron with the "goals-a-plenty" sponsorship scheme, and encouraging the team (with the emphasis on sound defence, a regular call was "mark up Dulwich") accompanied by her traditional wooden rattle. My thoughts are with the Mitchell family, who suffered a further loss when Pat's son John died suddenly a couple of days after her funeral.